TRANSMITTAL LETTER FOR BOARD MEETING OF FEBRUARY 19, 2026
COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY
Mr. John P. Murray, Executive Director
Title
Authority to settle lawsuit in Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago v. Electronic Plating Co., Case No. 2025L006657, seeking an injunction to keep sewer plugged and to impose additional civil penalties for violations of a final Board order entered in prior Show Cause proceedings, and to collect other amounts owed by Electronic Plating pursuant to the District’s ordinances
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Dear Sir:
Electronic Plating Co. (“Electronic Plating”) operated a metal finishing facility located at 1821 South 54th Avenue in Cicero, Illinois (“Facility”) where it previously had authority pursuant to a Discharge Authorization (“DA”) from the District to discharge process wastewater into the local sewer connected to the District’s sewerage and treatment facilities. In August 2022, the District initiated Show Cause proceedings against Electronic Plating pursuant to the District’s Sewage and Waste Control Ordinance (“SWCO”) for its failure to comply with multiple Cease and Desist Orders issued for exceedances of SWCO’s pollutant concentration limits for various metals associated with the plating industry. On April 12, 2023, a Board-appointed Hearing Officer approved an Agreed Order of Settlement (“Agreed Order”) in the Show Cause proceedings that was subsequently approved by the Board of Commissioners (“Board”) on April 20, 2023. Pursuant to the Agreed Order, Electronic Plating paid $100,000.00 in civil penalties to the District, the DA was revoked, and Electronic Plating was prohibited from applying for a new DA and discharging process wastewater to the District until it completed, to the District’s satisfaction, necessary upgrades to the Facility’s processing and pretreatment systems.
In February 2025, the District reinstated the Show Cause proceedings because Electronic Plating had discharged process wastewater on 27 days without a DA that also exceeded SWCO’s limits. On February 11, 2025, the Hearing Officer approved an Amended Agreed Order of Settlement (“Amended Agreed Order”) in the Show Cause proceedings that was subsequently approved by the Board on March 20, 2025. Pursuant to the Amended Agreed Order, Electronic Plating agreed to pay an additional $54,000.00 in civil penalties to the District in installments, keep all process wastewater lines capped, and refrain from discharging process wastewater to the District without a DA. A new DA could only be applied for if Electronic Plating satisfied several preconditions concerning compliance with SWCO.
The District subsequently continued monitoring the Facility for discharges of process wastewater, and between March and May 2025, detected six additional days when process wastewater was being discharged to the District without a DA that also exceeded SWCO’s limits. On May 16, 2025, the Executive Director issued an Order to Cease and Appear for Expedited Hearing to Plug Sewer in the Show Cause proceedings. In response, on June 6, 2025, Electronic Plating voluntarily plugged its sewer and no Facility discharges of process wastewater have been received by the District ever since. Electronic Plating has ceased all processing activities at the Facility and is in the process of closing its business and selling the property.
On May 22, 2025, the District filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court of Cook County against Electronic Plating, its president Robert Porcelli, and the record owner of the property seeking a permanent injunction to keep the sewer plugged, the imposition of additional civil penalties for these violations of a final Board order, and recoupment of other amounts owed to the District pursuant to SWCO, the District’s User Charge Ordinance (“UCO”), and the Amended Agreed Order. The parties have subsequently conducted extensive settlement negotiations and agreed to the following proposed settlement terms:
1) A permanent injunction against Electronic Plating prohibiting discharges of process wastewater from the Facility into the local sewer and requiring Electronic Plating to keep its sewer plugged.
2) Any new owner of the property can file a motion with the Circuit Court seeking to have the injunction vacated provided Electronic Plating no longer occupies the site in any way, the new owner is not in any way associated with Electronic Plating or its officers, and the new owner is in compliance with SWCO.
3) Payment by Electronic Plating of $60,000.00 in additional civil penalties to the District, comprising of six days of violations times the maximum civil penalty of $10,000.00 per day of violation available under the District’s statute for Circuit Court prosecutions of Board order violations.
4) Payment by Electronic Plating of all amounts owed to the District under SWCO, UCO, and the Amended Agreed Order, and to reimburse the District of its litigation costs, the sum total of which equals $100,000.00, which is the most the District could receive if it proceeded to trial.
5) Payment of the above amounts shall be due upon entry of the court’s order.
The Monitoring and Research Department (“M&R”) and Law Department worked closely to effectuate settlement on terms and conditions favorable to the District, and Electronic Plating has agreed to these terms.
Accordingly, the General Counsel respectfully requests that the Board of Commissioners authorize the District to settle the lawsuit in Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago v. Electronic Plating Co., Case No. 2025L006657, seeking an injunction to keep sewer plugged and to impose additional civil penalties for violations of a final order of the Board entered in prior Show Cause proceedings, and to collect other amounts owed by Electronic Plating pursuant to the District’s ordinances.
Requested, Susan T. Morakalis, General Counsel, STM:CMM
Disposition of this agenda item will be documented in the official Regular Board Meeting Minutes of the Board of Commissioners for February 19, 2026